There have always been situations where animals and even people have needed direction and information about a desired direction for them to take. Then, as now, it is typically associated with pain. There have been and are a plethora of aversive behavior devices presumably beginning with the stick, then the whip and, more recently by electronics-based aversive stimuli.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,571,193 Unuma, et al., awarded May 27, 2003, provides a recognition system of actions done by the body wearing special equipment, ex: the reporting by radio of the motions or actions of a body to which sensors, such as GPS or motion sensors, are attached to a remote place where they can be analyzed. This allows, for example, an animal to be tagged with a sensor and the owner to know where the animal is (GPS) and what he is doing (walking, running, etc.)
Anderson, et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,880, teach, for applications such as keeping cattle in a desired pasture area, the aversive, punishment-based prodding of an animal in a binary direction (left or right) sensitive to the animal's position reported by GPS sensing for keeping the animal in a contained area such as a square. The prodding is aversive only and prods to the left or right with any gradient used dedicated to the amount of punishment to be applied based on how close the animal is to some or any forbidden boundary. The device uses GPS not to report its position to a remote intelligence but to decide when to prod and/or punish the animal left or right away from any fence which is based not on a desired direction but on preventing the crossing of an imaginary boundary with physical discomfort resulting in usable fear.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,077, Christiansen provides aversive “barking-collar” and other bad-behavior punishment as well as an audible sound from the animal-attached assembly for easier location by a farmer, etc. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,664 Lyerly teaches a shock-leash for the aversive only training of things not to do. Also, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,103 Boyd describes a device emitting a painful or noxious fluid or substance to produce an “adverse effect”. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,433 Files describes an aversive stimulus device on an animal combined with a GPS reporting device controlled by a hand-held device that also reports to the holder the location of the animal. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,027 Watson, et al discloses an automated system analogous to a candy dispenser to reward good actions. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,682 issued to Gonda et al. on Jun. 22, 1982 describes a remote control animal collar that emits electrical shocks followed by sounds. U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,324 issued to Moore on May 12, 1998 describes a high-frequency sound burst creating collar responsive to barking of a dog and also can be activated with a remote control. U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,653 issued to Marishen et al. on Oct. 4, 1994 is has a hand-held electronic device providing positive audio tones in conjunction with negative ones, to, with no specifics of a desired animal response to be achieved, generally encourage good behaviors while discouraging bad behaviors. U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,939 issued to Robart et al. on Sep. 22, 1998 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,645 issued to Cole on Oct. 22, 1996 is based on bridle bits which that dispense tasty or pleasant fluids in the horse's mouth. It has been observed, however, that the combination of punishment and positive reinforcement confuses the animal.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,053 Records, et al. teach of providing an electric shock under a horse's saddle to make the animal buck, etc. Davis, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,786 teaches a device for guiding animals by placing an earphone in their ear so they can hear their master's verbal instructions. Moore in U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,324 adds to the shock collar the interpretation of the human voice or other sounds to the animal to decide when to apply aversive shocks or other stimulations. Vinci, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,453 further encourages the animal to positive behavior by emitting a cold fluid on its skin. Brose, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,120, as some of the others above, adds noxious sounds, etc. to discourage the breach of a zone.
Perhaps Tsai, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,082, best embodies the existing paradigm favoring aversive behavior control with an electric collar that tightens around the animal's neck for a graduated choke effect (not unlike the familiar screw-based hose clamp) to encourage it from bad behavior and potentially put it out of its misery.
Bach-y-rita, et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,430,450 established the effectiveness of communicating signals to the human tongue and the brain's effectiveness in learning to perceive those stimulations to the tongue as spatial information intuitively processable through brain plasticity. They also developed equipment that effectively delivers stimulations painlessly.